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The naturalness criterion applied to the cosmological constant implies a new-physics threshold at 10^-3 eV. Either the naturalness criterion fails, or this threshold does not influence particle dynamics at higher energies. It has been…
We use Hubble parameter versus redshift data from Stern, et al(2010) and Gazta\~{n}aga, et al (2009) to place constraints on model parameters of constant and time-evolving dark energy cosmological models. These constraints are consistent…
Herschel has revolutionized our ability to measure column densities (N$_{\rm H}$) and temperatures (T) of molecular clouds thanks to its far infrared multiwavelength coverage. However, the lack of a well defined background intensity level…
Time-delay cosmology offers an alternative approach to measuring the Hubble constant ($H_0$), which is distinct from the cosmic distance ladder and cosmic microwave background radiation methods. In this study, we present an improved strong…
Using several cosmological observations, i.e. the cosmic microwave background anisotropies (WMAP), the weak gravitational lensing (CFHTLS), the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations (SDSS+WiggleZ), the most recent observational…
Strong gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters is a fundamental tool to study dark matter and constrain the geometry of the Universe. Recently, the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields programme has allowed a significant improvement of…
In order to carry out a systematic and thorough measurement of the HI Gunn-Peterson effect at high redshift, a quantitatively testable and repeatable procedure, in particular, a robust statistical weighting technique, is developed. It is…
By stacking an ensemble of strong lensing clusters, we demonstrate the feasibility of placing constraints on the dark energy equation of state. This is achieved by using multiple images of sources at two or more distinct redshift planes.…
I discuss a solution to the dark energy problem, which arises when the visible universe is approximated by a black hole, in a quasi-static asymptotically-flat approximation. Using data, provided by WMAP7, I calculate the Schwarzschild…
The present paper is an extension of a recent work (Bhattacharya et al. 2010) to the Einstein-Strauss vacuole model with a cosmological constant, where we work out the light deflection by considering perturbations up to order M^3 and…
We prove a gravitational lensing theorem: the magnification of a source of uniform brightness by a foreground spherical lens is mu =1+pi(2R_E^2-R_L^2)/A, where A is the area of the source and R_E and R_L are the Einstein radius and size of…
In this paper, we make a comprehensive determination of the Hubble constant $H_0$ by using two parameters - the B-V color and the rate of decline $\Delta m_{15}$ - to simultaneously standardize the luminosities of all nearby…
In the present work, we investigate the power-law entropy corrected holographic dark energy (PLECHDE) model with Hubble horizon cutoff. We use 46 observational Hubble data points in the redshift range $0 \leq z \leq 2.36$ to determine the…
Recently, Holz & Wald have presented a new method for determining gravitational lensing effects on, e.g., supernova luminosity versus redshift measurements in inhomogeneous universes. In this paper, their method is generalized in several…
We constrain an interacting, holographic dark energy model, first proposed by two of us in [1], with observational data from supernovae, CMB shift, baryon acoustic oscillations, x-rays, and the Hubble rate. The growth function for this…
The aim of this project is to determine the consistency of an assumed cosmological model by means of a detailed analysis of the brightness profiles of distant galaxies.Starting from the theory developed by Ellis and Perry (1979) connecting…
A rigorous lower bound is obtained for the average resolution of any estimate of a shift parameter, such as an optical phase shift or a spatial translation. The bound has the asymptotic form k_I/<2|G|> where G is the generator of the shift…
A method is introduced to derive resolution criteria for various a priori defined templates of brightness distribution fitted to represent structures and objects in astronomical images. The method is used for deriving criteria for the…
Surveys with submillimetre telescopes are revealing large numbers of gravitationally lensed high-redshift sources. I describe how, in practice, these lensed systems could be simultaneously used to estimate the values of cosmological…
We estimate the changes in solar system tests of general relativity when "dark energy" arises from a Weyl scaling invariant action, using the modified Schwarzschild-like spherically symmetric solution obtained in this case by Adler and…